Product category:
Materials and components
News Release from: Victrex USA | Subject: T-Series polymers
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 20 September 2006
Polymers perform in high temperature
applications
Piper Plastics needed a material with higher strength and higher temperature resistance to injection mould end effector pads for the semiconductor industry.
When Piper Plastics wanted a material with higher strength and higher temperature resistance to injection mould end effector pads for the semiconductor industry, it chose a proprietary blended Victrex T-Series grade polymer based on Victrex Peek and Celazole polybenzimidazole (PBI) The new melt-processable Victrex T-Series polymers perform in the most demanding high temperature applications requiring superior strength, wear, hardness, improved creep and thermal properties
This article was originally published on Engineeringtalk on 17 Dec 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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Typically made of metal, end effectors are the "hands" of a robotic arm that pick up the silicon wafers and move them from one operation to the next.
Pads are inserted onto the tips of the end effectors and act as "fingers" to grip and touch the wafer as it moves through the semiconductor manufacturing process.
One of Piper Plastics' requirements when choosing a pad material was that it be an ultra high purity material capable of withstanding high temperatures - typically in the range of 300C.
Victrex T-Series polymer is the most thermally stable thermoplastic on the market, offering excellent mechanical performance at temperatures up to 300C.
In addition to its high temperature capabilities, Piper Plastics chose Victrex T-Series polymer because it is inherently lubricious with a very smooth surface finish.
It is low sloughing and offers exceptional abrasion resistance.
Since it began using the Victrex T-Series polymer, Piper Plastics has seen the lifespan of its end effector pads more than double.
According to Dave Wilkinson, Materials Engineering Manager at Piper Plastics: "Victrex T-Series polymers have one of the best overall property profiles of any high performance material".
"They are the unique solution for applications requiring superior high temperature resistance, unparalleled compressive strength, excellent tensile and flexural strength and low fatigue properties - all with the cost-effectiveness of a melt processable polymer".
In high temperature exposure to organic chemicals, moulded parts made with Victrex T-Series polymers offer outstanding chemical resistance and property retention, even after extended exposures.
They have excellent resistance to a range of extreme environments that degrade most plastics.
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